CMXS: mission possible

The 1st Communications Maintenance Squadron spends the majority of the year on the road doing what some would call the impossible. While traditional maintenance squadrons are fixing everyday outages, these Airmen are called upon when it seems no one has the answer.

The squadron provides specialized Air Force maintenance support for Department of Defense computer and information systems within the U.S. European Command area. They also present theater commanders with emergency restoration, preventative maintenance, training expertise and maintenance support exceeding base-level capabilities. These Airmen receive extensive training and received certifications that exceed what base-level personnel require.

“We have a unique mission here, and we’re diverse with a good range of knowledge between all of the sections and personnel,” said Master Sgt. Chet Fine, 1st CMXS operations flight chief. “We work as the 9-1-1 of the comm maintenance world. As soon as we get a call for support, we are usually on the road within 48 hours.”

The three sections that make up the squadron are operations, plans and programs and the regional maintenance center. Each section holds their own specialist on maintenance aspects from cables and vehicles to airfield weather equipment. They are completely self-reliant within themselves to be able torespond to support requests quickly.

“If we can’t fix something there really isn’t anyone above us who can, so we always have to find a solution,” said Fine. “There isn’t anything that we can’t either fix or find a solution to, that’s why our motto is ‘when all else fails … we don’t!’”

This unique squadron is one of three Air Force wide and spends more than 100 days a year on average on the road because they are in such high demand. When they aren’t traveling, they are at Kapaun training for the next possible scenario.

“We feel important when we come to work,” said Tech. Sgt. Thomas Stockton, 1st CMXS regional maintenance technician. “We impact all of USAFE-AFAFRICA and without us, a lot of missions would have failed.”

According to the Airmen who work in the squadron, being part of such a large mission and the effect they have on the rest of the Air Force is what makes it so great to come to work every day and be part of such a unique squadron.

Although the personnel spend a greater part of the year traveling, most of them still have families at home, Fine said. They could easily go out and get this job as a civilian and get paid a lot more, but most of them stay just because they love this mission and the camaraderie throughout the shop, it’s like a family.
The Airmen of this highly dedicated squadron prove time and time again why they are so good at what they do.

Between the constant traveling, deployments and training their no-fail attitude allows them to strive for perfection in every challenge coming their way.